On Thursday, an Instagram post by the former director of the FBI, James Comey, sparked backlash and angered Donald Trump Jr. Comey posted an image many people interpreted as a threat to Donald Trump. Comey used Instagram to share a photo of shells on a beach arranged to read “8647.” “86” is slang for eliminate, and Trump is the 47th president, so many social media users saw the post as calling for violence against Trump.
Trump Jr. Makes Accusation
Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., openly suggested that Comey was calling for violence against his father. “Just James Comey casually calling for my dad to be murdered. This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!!!!” Trump Jr. wrote on X. Soon after the backlash began, Comey deleted the post and made another post saying that it “never occurred to me” that it could be associated with violence.
Trump Jr. Compared To Hunter Biden
Donald Trump Jr. made headlines for a different reason this week as well. The White House accused the owner of Politico and Business Insider of “foreign political meddling.” The owner of the news outlets is German.
The accusation came after a Business Insider story was published that compared Donald Trump Jr. to former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. On Monday, the news outlet published the story with the headline “Don Jr. Is The New Hunter Biden.” The story upset the White House so much that it attacked its parent company, Axel Springer, and threatened legal action.
1789 Capital
The story outlined Trump Jr.’s work with 1789 Capital, an investment company. 1789 only invests in businesses that are “anti-woke” and have openly supported MAGA. The story shined a light on the potential conflict of interest over Trump Jr. benefiting from his father’s presidency.
Although Trump Jr. is a private citizen, a White House spokesperson told a far-right news outlet that “Donald Trump Jr is an innovator and visionary who is successfully reimagining the conservative media ecosystem—and the left is truly petrified.”
Then added, “Axel Springer, a foreign-based media organization, is brazenly weaponizing its platforms to sow political division and spread disinformation in a manner that may well stretch beyond journalism, into illegal foreign political meddling.”
Axel Springer Responds
Axel Springer quickly responded to the White House’s accusation in a statement. “Axel Springer is a global media company committed to press freedom,” a spokesperson said. “Our U.S. newsrooms operate independently without editorial interference, and we stand firmly behind their right to report freely and without intimidation.”
“Our newsroom operates with full editorial independence, and we stand by our reporting,” a spokesperson for Business Insider said. Fallout from the story has already been felt by Alex Springer. Ballard Partners, a MAGA supporting lobbying firm, has dropped Alex Spring as a client over the story.
